Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in computer use and computer network use. The public Internet is accessed by many millions of people each day, and the number of people and businesses using the Internet continues to grow at unprecedented rates. Similarly, the number of mobile communication service subscribers has grown as the cost of service has steadily dropped in recent years. It is a foregone conclusion that wireless mobile networking will likewise experience a similar growth.
Wireless mobile networking, or simply mobile networking, allows users to access public and private networks using an air interface between a mobile communication device, such as a so-called smart phone, and a fixed station, such as a base station that is coupled to a mobile network. There are presently scaled down versions of network client software, commonly referred to as browsers, installed in mobile communication devices that permit access to the information made available on public and private networks. There are a variety of network schemes presently in use, including over the air packet data and short messaging service (SMS). In many respects these schemes are similar to regular computer networks in that a network address is used by the mobile communication device, such as Internet protocol (IP) addressing, and the mobile communication device behaves like a network client. However, protocols specifically designed for small, handheld, phone type mobile communication devices are being developed, such as the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). It is anticipated that such a protocol will become a universal standard.
Using the WAP model, wireless communication and network access via wireless communication are seen as separate roles in wireless mobile communication, much the way an Internet service provider and a local telephone company are used by people to access the internet. A person may have a particular wireless service provider, and use a different company to provide network access for his or her wireless network appliance. Having separate service providers, allows a user to access networks when, for example, they change wireless service providers, or are in an area where their wireless service provider does not provide coverage.
Furthermore, the market interest in multimode wireless communication devices is increasing. Multimode wireless mobile communication devices support more than one type of wireless air interface, and can therefore be used over a broader area. There are a wide variety of air interfaces, such as analog cellular, digital cellular, time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), Global Specification for Mobile communication (GSM), iDEN (integrated Digital Enhanced Network) to name a few. Each of these is referred to as a wireless bearer network. Presently wireless application services are provided on a number of wireless bearer networks, using either circuit data techniques, packet data techniques, or both. Wireless application services includes communication services such as stock price alert weather report, map/direction, directory service, banking, news, etc. Provisioning of these services is done via the wireless bearer network. That is, if wireless application services are provided, the subscriber receives them from the wireless bearer network operator.
Having the wireless bearer network in control of wireless application services is limiting. For one, if a person is roaming on a non-home network, they may not have access to the services since they are not subscribers of that network. Wireless application service providers can be accessed, for example, over the public Internet, but the provisioning of services, if done in a conventional manner, would still be limiting. Therefore there is a need for a method by which wireless application services may be subscribed to and unsubscribed from, as desired by the user of a mobile communication device, and in a manner that works over a variety of wireless bearer networks.